In the second part of our exclusive interview with Myleene Klass, the former pop star turned entrepreneur talks about her relationship with her three children Ava, Hero and Apollo, the power and threat posed by social media and the future of TV talent shows.
Missed part one of our exclusive interview with Myleene? You can catch up by clicking here.
Speaking to Female First as she promotes CooperVision MiSight 1 day® contact lenses that slow down the progression of myopia, an eye condition Myleene has suffered with throughout her life, she gave us an insight into a world see through her own lens.
There is a huge debate surrounding the influence of social media, for good and bad. How do you feel about your kids being on social media channels?
I work with social media charities and the best way to deal with it is to inform yourself with it. If you do a blanket ban for your kids, it then becomes the forbidden fruit and then everyone wants to be on it. So I have very open conversations with my children about social media and it has given us a platform to speak to a huge audience about myopia and the challenges it can present. So there is some good that can come out of social media.
Should we encourage our children to stay away from social media?
That's not realistic, they are going to use it. The challenge is we need to work to find the best way to consume it.
I find my daughters telling me which emojis I shouldn't be using now and that is a sign of how things change.
We will never be able to keep up with our kids, but we can guide them. You wouldn't allow your child loose in the kitchen with a knife, but you have to let them how to use it correctly and safely. It is the same with social media. It can be an incredible tool, but it can also be dangerous if not used wisely.
You shot to fame on the talent show PopStars as part of the band Hear'Say, but this kind of show appears to have lost their pulling power on TV. Can talent contests like X Factor come back?
The cream of talent will always find a way to get to the top and I think the reason why shows like PopStars and X Factor are not on at the moment is the world has changed how we consume TV. When I was growing up we had four or five channels to look at. Now we have 500 and the choice is massive. So the focus will never be on the one show on the one channel.
Are you embracing YouTube and TikTok as a way to spread the message about your different brands?
Absolutely, you have to be open to everything new. During lockdown, I did online music lessons with my kids and my daughter taught me how to use Tiktok. Now I’m editing my own content for my social media platforms. That comes from listening to my daughter, who showed me how to do it. At the start, a lot of people were disparaging about TikTok and thought it was just kids larking around, but you need to embrace new things and that is what I’ve always tried to do.
So many people are 'famous' on social media channels now, so is that a good thing?
You can be YouTube famous, TikTok famous, are you Insta famous... everyone can be famous now and to be globally famous it takes a insane talent. You need to be Beyonce, Lady Gaga or Emma Raducanu. These kinds of people have incredible gifts and their fame is on another level, but fans has taken on a different vissage in recent years.
Do your kids see you as being famous?
My kids understand that their mother is famous... but they don't know why. I'm just their Mum, who gets them socks when they can't find them in their PE kit and I just don't know how a single celebrity, however famous they might be, can't be humbled by their kids.
I also learn an infinite amount from my children. It's not just one-way traffic. It is old-fashioned to say, do as I say not what I do.
How important for you is it to get the message out there about myopia and the new contact lenses from CooperVision that can slow down the progression of the condition?
It obviously means a lot to me as I have lived with this all my life. I don't remember not having glasses. I have had them all my life, I'm talking four-years-old and every time I went to get new ones there was this sinking feeling as they never had glasses I wanted at that age.
Back then, it wasn't cool. Then if you broke them, you knew you would have a big problem for the next few weeks. I was so reliant on them.
Do your kids understand why it is like to live with myopia?
CooperVision made us glasses to replicate what it is like to have myopia and now they have taken the glasses into school and the teachers are using it as a tool to experience what life is like to be Hero's Mum... poor Hero's Mum!!
It gives them a chance to stand in someone else's shoes and see how difficult it is.
Now we have these incredible contact lenses that can slow down the progression of myopia and they can be life changing.
Myleene Klass is partnering with CooperVision MiSight 1 day® contact lenses, in a campaign to raise awareness of the increase of myopia in children and the ability to slow its progression with their specialist contact lenses. For expert advice and to hear Myleene’s experience of growing up with myopia, visit www.coopervision.co.uk/brilliantfutures.
Words by Kevin Palmer for Female First, who you can follow on Twitter, @RealKevinPalmer.
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